Paul Whiteman Orchestra with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue”

Review:
“This episodic and jazzy one-movement piano concerto” NPR’99 has been called George Gershwin’s “most identifiable masterpiece” and “one of the most enduring pieces of American music.” NPR’99 It is a “landmark in popular music history” which “stands as an eternal symbol of the American ethos.” SS-16 Gershwin himself called the work “a musical kaleidoscope of America.” WK In 1974, it was also one of the eight original inductees to the Grammy Hall of Fame. In How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elijah Wald called the piece “the Sgt. Pepper of the 1920s.“ SS-16

By 1923, Gershwin’s reputation had grown enough that Paul Whiteman, “undisputed as America’s most popular bandleader,” SS-16 asked Gershwin to write a piece for a jazz concerto. SS-16 He sketched out the idea for a rhapsody which he composed in just a few weeks, although he reportedly told a friend at the time that everything he knew about harmony could be put on a three-cent stamp. SS-16 His brother Ira suggested the name after a visit to a gallery exhibition featuring, among other works, the well-known “Whistler’s Mother.” WK Whiteman was so moved by the piece he wept. SS-16

On February 12, 1924, Gershwin and Whiteman’s Orchestra performed the piece for the first time to a full-capacity Aeolian Hall in New York. Among the crowd were legendary composers Igor Stravinsky, John Philip Sousa, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Most of the show was met with an indifferent response, but “Rhapsody” was greeted with enthusiastic applause. SS-16 In The Nation, Henrietta Strauss declared that Whiteman and Gershwin had “added a new chapter to our musical history.” SS-16

Whiteman and Gershwin recorded the song that June and it reached #3 before year’s end. Three years later, a new electrically-recorded version hit #7. PM The Glenn Miller Orchestra went to #13 with its version in 1943. PM Woody Allen also used it in his film score for Manhattan.